11 arrested at illegal Easter rave on the South Downs

An illegal rave just outside Woodingdean on the South Downs at the weekend was shut down by police with 11 arrests made.

Nine of the arrests were made for public nuisance offences, one for drug driving and another for assault.

More than 40 cars and vans were parked up at the site, with an estimated 600 people in attendance. Partygoers had previously been moved on from an original rave location in woodland near Horsham, The Argus reports.

The body of a decapitated newborn lamb was found on the site, which has been littered with drug paraphernalia, cans, glass and human waste. Local sheep farmer and tenant of the land Martin Carr has expressed he is “shaking with rage” at the incident and has accused a reveller of beheading the lamb.

However, police have stated there is no evidence connecting the two events and ravers have denied any involvement.

Police first became aware of the rave at 3am when multiple vehicles arrived into the area, but monitored the site without entering for more than 12 hours until it was safe to do so. Falmer Road was shut off to prevent further access, causing extensive traffic delays which local resident Carl Rea described as “complete and utter chaos”.

Other residents complained that the bass from the rave made them unable to sleep on Saturday night, however dog walkers Joe Hill and Zoe Funge-Smith accepted the rave as long as it was not dangerous to humans or animals, with the latter saying music is the “glue” that unites the world.

An unnamed attendee who claimed to know the organisers said ravers have been “victimised in the press”, adding: “We clean up after ourselves. We are just having fun. We apologise for the noise but we don’t do this often.”

Police in Lincolnshire had previously asked locals to be vigilant with reporting signs of illegal gatherings over the Easter bank holiday.

[Via: The Argus]

Patrick Hinton is Mixmag's Digital Staff Writer, follow him on Twitter